Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Practice Exam

What type of light does subtractive color mixing absorb?

1. Infrared light

2. Blue wavelengths

3. Red, green, and blue wavelengths

4. All colors of light

The correct answer is: All colors of light

Subtractive color mixing is a process where colors are created by the absorption and selective transmission of light. This technique primarily involves the use of pigments or dyes, which work by absorbing specific wavelengths of light and reflecting others. When pigments are mixed, the resulting color is determined by the wavelengths that are not absorbed. In this process, the more pigments you add, the more light is absorbed, which leads to a darker appearance. When you combine different pigments, they absorb various parts of the light spectrum, and therefore, to achieve a particular color, all colors of light can be absorbed depending on the pigments used. For instance, mixing cyan, magenta, and yellow inks would absorb red, green, and blue wavelengths respectively, ultimately leading to a broad absorption across the spectrum. Thus, in the context of the question, subtractive color mixing absorbing all colors of light highlights the fundamental process of how pigment mixtures function, ultimately resulting in the perceived color based on what wavelengths are reflected rather than absorbed.